Article-handling implement



Oct. 4, 1966 c. B. HANSEN ARTICLEHANDLING IMPLEMENT Filed March 51, 1965 INVENTOR CHAU/VCEY B. HANSEN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,276,806 ARTICLE-HANDLING IMPLEMENT Chauncey B. Hansen, 8 Maple St., Bloomfield, NJ. Filed Mar. 31, 1965, Ser. No. 444,117 9 Claims. (Cl. 29419) This invention relates to article-handling implements and, more particularly, to one adapted for use in depositing letters in a motorists mail box.

As is wellknown, mail boxes are provided at certain places particularly for use by motorists, who can place mail therein by reaching out of a car window and depositing letters in the extended mouth of a box without leaving the automobile. However, if a motorist is alone in the automobile, he has to either slide over to the right side of the front seat or strain himself reaching out toward the mail box, after stopping as near as possible to it. My invention has been particularly devised to overcome this difliculty.

An object of my invention is to provide for depositing letters in a motorists mail box in a convenient manner by a driver Without leaving his seat or sliding across to the toher side of the car.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for resiliently holding a letter and with a handle of suitable length by which a motorist may with it reach from an automobile and push said device toward the open mouth of a'motorists mail box and aim thereinto the letter, thereby conveniently depositing such a letter in the box.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device as above described which includes resilient letter-ejecting means stressed and set by the box-remote edge portion of a letter, when held in said device, and means upstanding from the top of said device and engageable by a portion of said box defining said mouth to release said holding means and allow the ejecting means to discharge an aimed letter'into said mouth.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken with the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that the drawings are for the purposes of illustration and do not define the scope or limits of the invention, reference being had for the latter purpose to the appended la s.

In the drawings, where like reference characters denote like parts in the several views:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an article-handling implement embodying my invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan of the implement of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the resilient sheetmetal portion of the device for resiliently holding a letter, prior to being bent back on itself, and with an associated plate fastened to a handle.

, FIGURE 4 is an elevational view corresponding to FIGURE 1, but showing the implement set and ready to deliver a letter to a motorists mail box.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary plan of the device of FIG- URE 4 but showing a modification.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the device of FIGURE 5, to show the modified form of connection to a handle.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the device of FIGURE 5 for resiliently holding a letter, viewed on the line VI-VI of FIGURE 5.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and first considering the embodiment of my invention illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4, inclusive, there is shown an article-handling implement generally designated 11 and consisting of a device 12 for resiliently holding a letter. The handle 13 "ice to which the device 12 is attached as by means of a screw 14, is of suitable length so that a motorist may with it reach from an automobile and push said device toward the letter-receiving mouth of a motorists, or courtesy, mail box. One or more permanent, desirably small horseshoe, magnets 40 may be embracingly mounted on one or more sections of the handle, so as to hold the assembled implement in place on the dash or other convenient steel part of a car.

The device 12 includes resilient letter-ejecting means or fingers 15, desirably formed byslitting from a sheet or blank 16 of spring metal from which the resilient portion of the device 12 is constructed and bending them to free or unstressed positions such as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 3. The device 12 also has means 17 upstanding from the top, desirably formed from the blank 16, as illustrated in FIGURE 3, by slitting and upbending a lug or tongue designated 17 as the trigger means to engage the mouth portion of a letter box 37. An alternative trigger means is shown at 17a in FIGURES 5 and 7.

The implement 11 is assembled by bending the blank 16 upon itself to the shape shown in FIGURE 1, when very thin materal, such as .008 inch stainless steel, is employed, where the end extensions or tongues 18 and 19 overlap one another. The screw or other fastening means 14 passes through holes 21 and 22 in said tongues, which then register, the lower end of said screw is threadably connected to the adjacent end of the handle 13. At the time the resilient sheet metal portion 16 is connected to the handle 13, a plate 23, a desirably of metal, although plastic or other suitable material may be employed, is disposed between the overlapped tongues and the connected end portion of the handle 13 and both simultaneously connected to saidhandle by the same screw 14.

This plate 23, as shown most clearly in FIGURE 2, which may be, or is considered as, an extension of the handle 13, has a relatively wide portion 24 at its free end, terminating in an extreme edge portion 25. Said edge portion 25 is desirably curved down, as illustrated most clearly in FIGURE 1, to facilitate the insertion of a letter to be supported on said portion 24 or other handle extension. The inner edges 26 and 27, where the wide portion 25 is connected to a narrower portion or shank 28, serve as stops for the resilient fingers 15, which fingers straddle the narrower portion 28. Thus movement of said fingers to the left, upon discharge of a letter, is limited.

. A letter 29 is pushed from the left, as viewed in FIG- URE 1, into the tapered month between the supporting plate 23 and the resilient sheet 16 of the device 12, to stress the fingers 15 to the position shown in FIGURE 4, said letter being there indicated in dot-dash lines. The device 12 is so adjusted that the grip between the flexible sheet 16 and the plate 23 upon the letter is such that the fingers 15 will, after being set, stay in the position illustrated in FIGURE 4, where they are stressed and ready to eject the letter upon release. The tension of the device 12 for holding such a letter, or letters, is adjusted to the proper amount by turning a set screw 31. The shank 32 of said screw passes through the apertures 33 and 34, a registering aperture in the shank portion 28 of the plate 23, and continues to threadably engage the handle 11, so that the desired tightness of the device on a letter, or letters, may be obtained.

In the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 4, inclusive, the handle 13 is shown formed of a pluarilty of hollow metal sections 20, which are desirably of aluminum. These sections, with the exception of the end which is connected to the resilient device 12, each has one end open and the other end formed with an extension or dowel portion 30 which tightly fits the hollow of the adjacent section, as shown in FIGURE 1. This construction thereby enables the sections to be assembled to provide a handle of the desired length, or detached by pulling them apart and placing them side by side for storage in a suitable place, such as the glove compartment of an automobile, when not in use.

The end portion of the section 20 nearest the resilient blank 16 and the plate 23 is desirably flattened, so as to provide for conveniently connecting the flat shank 28 of the plate 23, and the superimposed overlapped portions 18 and 19 of the resilient blank 16 thereto, as illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2, and 4.

Referring now to the embodiment of my invention illustrated in FIGURES 5, 6, and 7, there is shown an article-holding implement 11a, which may correspond generally with the implement 11 of FIGURES 1 to 4, inelusive, except that the handle 13a is formed of a piece of wood rectangular in section. The upstanding lug 17a, instead of being formed, as is preferred, by splitting from the material of the resilient portion 16a of the device 12a, may be formed as a stud outstanding therefrom and carrying a nut or collar 35 near its lower end, preventing it from passing entirely through a receiving hole in said resilient portion 16a and with its lower end riveted or swaged over, as indicated at 36 to hold it in place.

In the embodiment of FIGURES and 6, the plate 23a is shown with a shank or narrowed extension 28a longer than the extension 28 of the first embodiment. The extreme end portion of said extension 28a is here shown connected to the wooden handle 13a by a pair of screws or the like 41 and 42. Also, as I do not wish to rely on the wood of the handle 13a for threading either the screw 14a or the set screw 31a thereinto, I here show the shanks of these members as passing through the overlapped portions of the sheet or blank 16a and through registering apertures in the shank 28a, with their ends threadably received in nuts 43 and 44, respectively. Except for these modifications, the structure of FIGURES 5, 6, and 7 may correspond with that of FIGURES 1- to 4, inclusive. 7

Although I have indicated that the material forming the blank may be about .008 inch thick, yet I do not wish to be limited to this thickness. I may, for example, use material considerably thicker, say .015 inch in thickness. In the latter event, I would prefer to bend it to angular, rather than curved, form as illustrated in FIG- URES 1 and 4. By this I mean that the top part would go approximately straight, but inclined upward at an angle, then be bent down at approximately a right angle to the top part, and then back to underlie the top part. The angle at the bottom would be somewhat less than a right angle, and the inclination of the bottom part would be a relatively small angle comparable to that being provided by the curved bottom part of the sheet or blank 16.

In this event, the stud or tongue to form a trigger would project upwardly and to the left, like the stud or tongue 17 or 17a of the embodiments illustrated, but would extend not from a curved portion but from the approximately right-angled portion at the top and lefthand end of the upper part of the angular device corresponding with that designated 16 or 16a of the embodiments illustrated.

As an example of dimensions which I have used in a device embodying my invention, the sheet or blank 16 may be approximately 9% inches overall length when flat, the width of the body or Wider portion may be about 1 inch, and the width of the tongues or end ex tensions 18 and 19 about inch. The length of the left-hand extension 19, as viewed in FIGURE 3,would be about 3 inches and the length of the right-hand extension 18 as the-re viewed about 2 /8 inches. The fingers are each desirably about 1% inches long and inch wide, with their free end portions about 7 inch long, bent at an obtuse angle to the main portions of said fingers so that, when unstressed or at the extreme ends of their leftward travel and engaging the shoulders 26 and 27, they lie approximately parallel to the plate 23. Fingers 15 are under stress when as shown in FIG. 1.

The plate 23 is desirably, formed of aluminum somewhat thicker than the blank 16, that is, its thickness may lie between about inch and inch. It may be about 2 inches wide at its wider part, and said wider part may be 2% inches long, with a tongue or shank 28 extending therefrom for about 2 /2 inches and inch wide, in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 4, inclusive. When the plate 23a is used, as in the embodiment of FIGURES 5, 6, and 7, the shank 28a may be about twice 13a, as illustrated in FIGURE 5, beyond the connection of this shank to the overlapped ends of the blank 16a.

In both embodiments, the stud or lug 17 and 17a may be about 1 /8 inches long. The setting forth of the foregoing dimensions is intended to be illustrative and .not limiting.

One of the main purposes of the set screw 31 is to allow for diiferent degrees of tension on the device 12 or 12a in accordance with the thickness and/or weight of the article or articles to be handled by the device. That is, if the article or articles weigh more, the set screw 31 would be tightened to apply a correspondingly increased pressure on the article to hold it in place until ejected, and it would be correspondingly loosened if only one letter or an article of lighter weight were to be delivered.

However, if I were to construct a device for use with only single letters or articles of approximately uniform weight and thickness, then it is possible that an adjusting screw, such as designated 31 or 31a, could be dispensed with and the device 16 or 16a set for a fixed tension. However, inasmuch as such a device would obviously have but limited application, it is ordinarily desirable to have an adjusting screw, as previously described.

In use, one or more letters 29 are placed in the implement, as indicated in FIGURE 4, and the driver of a car grasps the right-hand end of the handle 13, or 13a, as the case may be, reaches out through an open window of the car, and pushes the device toward a motorists mail box 37, the open mouth of which is indicated at 38. I He continues to advance the device toward the mail box until the top wall 39, which defines the mail-receiving opening or mouth 38, is engaged by the lug or stud 17, or 17a, as the case may be. He pushes this further until the stud is swung up and with it the flexible member 16, .or 16a, releasing the mail 29 from being gripped by said flexible member against the plate 23, or 23a, and allowing the fingers 15,'or 15a, to be releasedto eject the mail into the mouth 38 of the box. Ejection of the mail is facilitated by engaging the. stud quickly so that there is no delay in release by the device.

Although I have shown but two forms of handle for the implement 11, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to these. I may use, in addition to the hollow metal handle 13, not only the rectangular wood handle 13a but also a dowel stick, a broom handle, or any device, even including an implement for removing ice from the windshield of an automobile, which is commonly available for use in connection with an automobile. It will also be understood that, although I have described my implement for use in depositing letters in a motorists mail box, it is suitable for directing other similar articles into other receptacles, such as material to. be discarded into a trash container, or a coin to be paid into a highway toll receptacle.

Having now described my'invention in detail in accordance with the requirements of the Patent Statutes, those skilled in this art will have no difiiculty in making changes or modifications in the individual parts or their relative assembly in order to meet specific requirements or,conditions. Such changes and modifications may be. made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An article-handling implement adapted for use in depositing articles, such as letters, in a receptacle, such as a motorists mail box, comprising a device for resiliently holding such an article, a handle of suitable length by which an operator may with it reach from an automobile, push said device toward such a receptacle, and aim an article held thereby into a receptacle opening, such as the letter-receiving mouth of said box, resilient ejecting means stressed and set by the box-remote edge portion of an article, such as a letter, when held in said device, and means upstanding from the top of said device and engageable by the portion of said receptacle defining the top of said opening to release said holding device and allow the ejecting means to discharge an aimed article into said opening.

2. An article-handling implement as recited in claim 1, wherein the device for resiliently holding an article is formed of a sheet of spring metal bent back upon itself, with overlapped ends and a plate therebeneath as an extension of the handle, secured to an end of the handle, and means threaded through the overlapped ends into said handle for adjusting the tightness of said spring metal sheet toward said plate.

3. An article-handling implement as recited in claim 1, wherein the handle is formed of hollow tubing in sections connected together by telescoping adjacent ends to provide a suitable length when in use, but adapted for disassembly for storing in the glove compartment of an automobile.

4. An article-handling implement as recited in claim 1, wherein the handle is selected from material consisting of hollow metal tubing, wood rectangular in section, wood circular in section, and ice scrapers for cleaning automobile Windshields.

5. An article-holding implement as recited in claim 1, wherein the holding device is formed of a sheet of spring metal bent back on itself and the resilient letterejeoting means is formed by slitting and bending fingers from said sheet of spring metal.

6. An article-handling implement as recited in claim 1, wherein the means upstanding from the top of said device and engageable by a portion of the mail box is a lug slit out and bent up from an intermediate portion of the top of said device for resiliently holding a letter.

7. An article-handling implement as recited in claim 1, wherein the means upstanding from the top of said device and engageable by a portion of the mail box is a metal 'stud the lower end of which is riveted to an intermediate portion of the top of said device for resiliently holding a letter.

8. An article holding implement for use in depositing letters in a moton'sts mail box comprising a device for resiliently holding a letter, a handle of suitable length by which a motorist may with it reach from an automobile, push said device toward such a mailbox and aim a letter held thereby into the letter-receiving mouth of said box, said device being formed of a sheet of spring metal bent back upon itself, with overlapped ends and a letter support therebeneath at an end of said handle, resilient letterejecting means formed by slitting and bending fingersfrom said sheet of spring metal, said fingers straddling a portion of said letter support, being stressed and set by the boxremote edge portion of a letter held in said device, by said spring metal sheet and a lug of said sheet metal slit out and bent up from an intermediate portion of the top of said spring metal sheet engageable by the portion of said box defining the top of said mouth, to release said holding means and allow the fingers to discharge an aimed letter into said box mouth.

9. An article-holding implement for use in depositing letters in a motorists mail box comprising a device for resiliently holding a letter, a handle of suitable length by which a motorist may with it reach from an automobile, push said device toward such a mail box and aim a letter held thereby into the letter-receiving mouth of said box, said device being formed of a sheet of spring metal bent back upon itself, with overlapped ends and a letter support therebeneath at the end of said handle, means threaded through the overlapped ends into said handle for adjusting the tightness of said device, said handle being formed of hollow tubing in sections connected together by telescoping adjacent ends to provide a suitable length when in use but adapted for disassembly to store in the glove compartment of an automobile, resilient letter-ejecting means formed by slitting and bending fingers from said sheet of spring metal, said fingers straddling a portion of said letter support, being stressed and set by the boxremote edge portion of a letter when supported and held in said device by said spring metal sheet and a lug of said sheet metal slit out and bent up from an intermediate portion of the top of said spring metal sheet engageable by the portion of said box defining the top of said mouth, to release said holding means and allow the fingers to discharge an aimed letter into said box mouth.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1909 Munger 24259 1/1958 Redmon 294-19 

1. AN ARTICLE-HANDLING IMPLEMENT ADAPTED FOR USE IN DEPOSITING ARTICLES, SUCH AS LETTERS, IN A RECEPTACLE, SUCH AS A MOTORIST''S MAIL BOX, COMPRISING A DEVICE FOR RESILIENTLY HOLDING SUCH AN ARTICLE, A HANDLE OF SUITABLE LENGTH BY WHICH AN OPERATOR MAY WITH IT REACH FROM AN AUTOMOBILE PUSH SAID DEVICE TOWARD SUCH A RECEPTACLE, AND AIM AN ARTICLE HELD THEREBY INTO A RECEPTACLE OPENING, SUCH AS THE LETTER-RECEIVING MOUTH OF SAID BOX, RESILIENT EJECTING MEANS STRESSED AND SET BY THE BOX-REMOTE EDGE PORTION OF AN ARTICLE, SUCH AS A LETTER, WHEN HELD IN SAID DEVICE AND MEANS UPSTANDING FROM THE TOP OF SAID DEVICE, AND GAGEABLE BY THE PORTION OF SAID RECEPTACLE DEFINING THE TOP OF SAID OPENING TO RELEASE SAID HOLDING DEVICE AND ALLOW THE EJECTING MEANS TO DISCHARGE AN AIMED ARTICLE INTO SAID OPENING. 